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Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord says “the hard part” of the season begins after the summer break and that the team must stay “calm” despite leading both championships. Lord said: "I think the important point is doing all of that in a calm way. We're approaching the summer break, and, while we're only halfway through the season, in many ways the hard part begins afterwards. That's when the pressure starts to build. At the same time, you're continuing to develop the car and introduce upgrades while operating on the other side of the world. That inevitably increases the complexity."
Alex Albon says Williams have gone “two or three years back” and will have to wait longer than he expected before it can fight regularly at the front. Albon said: "It definitely feels like we've taken two or three years back. When you look at last year and you think 'how long will it take for us to become a top team?'... maybe I was optimistic but I genuinely thought 2027, we could start fighting for consistent podiums and maybe challenging for the odd win, leave the midfield and fight with those four teams. I do think there is a setback when you look at where we are this year."
Red Bull team boss Laurent Mekies says the team will not be satisfied with its progress this season until it has a car with the pace to win races on merit, speaking after Max Verstappen finished second in Budapest. Mekies said: "We don't sign for anything else other than winning races. Don't count on me to say that we are satisfied, because we are not. We will not be satisfied until we go back to having a race car that has the pace to win on merit."
Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad said he has “no regrets” about the team’s one-stop strategy at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Lindblad said: "I think from the team's point of view, it was the maximum that was possible today. So I don't have any regrets about the one-stop not working, because it could've been the other way around quite easily."
Fernando Alonso says Adrian Newey’s suggestion Aston Martin has not listened enough to its drivers was aimed at the past, when “data was the winner” in internal debates about the car. Alonso said: "I think Adrian's comments were more about the past. Maybe the data was the winner in those debates. That's why data is not 100 per cent the truth. I think you need to combine both things."
Isack Hadjar admitted he had “a few doubts” about joining Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s team-mate, with the team’s recent record of struggling second drivers on his mind. Hadjar said: "Obviously you come in, and you're aware of where you landed. I definitely had a few doubts because it's Max; it's undeniable that he's great. So, a bit of doubt, a bit of pressure, but so far it's been going pretty much like I wanted. But yeah, it was definitely on my mind."
Toto Wolff says Mercedes must be careful not to overreact to McLaren’s Hungarian Grand Prix win and Mercedes’ own dip in performance, pointing to Budapest suiting McLaren and his team having gone some time without bringing an upgrade. Wolff said: "So, definitely, it is one of the good tracks for them, and not very good for us. So, we need to be careful not to swing from everyone is suddenly competitive to a team is suddenly not competitive. So, I think they've definitely done a step. They're in the fight. We haven't brought an upgrade for some time, and you can see that this is going to be a development fight also going forward."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Lando Norris’ calm approach at the Hungarian Grand Prix, when he spent the early part of the race behind team-mate Oscar Piastri, showed the “trajectory” of his development. Stella said: "What we see here is just the continuation of this trajectory. Lando is much more confident. He's much more aware of the tools that he has in his driving, how to deploy these tools, and he's also more in control of his emotions. [In Hungary], when he was behind Oscar he said a couple of times that he had pace in hand, but he didn't get overly frustrated."
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur says the team knows it must improve its power unit and will keep bringing updates through the 2026 season to maintain momentum in the development race. Vasseur said: "We know that we have to improve on the engine side. We will do it, even if the inertia on the engine is much higher than the chassis. The most important thing would be to be able to keep the pace into the development. We have a different approach trying to bring parts every race, and we have to keep this momentum because there are still 12 races to go."
Audi racing director Allan McNish says the team will not introduce another major Formula 1 power unit update until 2027, as it manages spending under the budget cap. McNish said: "It'll be next year. Everybody has got this trade-off between when you're bringing upgrades – chassis and PU – and also where you spend your money. Because you can't spend everything at one time, because then you don't have anything to fight with later. So it's got to be a managed expectation, and not just over one season, but multiple seasons as well. And then I would say the bigger parts are for 2027. So we will not see anything big on the power unit until then."
Alex Albon says Williams’ current situation feels like the team has gone “two or three years” backwards, with the Grove-based outfit ninth in the constructors’ standings after 11 rounds of the 2026 season. Albon said: "It definitely feels like we've taken two or three years back. When you look at last year and you think 'how long will it take for us to become a top team?'… maybe I was optimistic but I genuinely thought 2027, we could start fighting for consistent podiums and maybe challenging for the odd win, leave the midfield and fight with those four teams. I do think there is a setback when you look at where we are this year."
Carlos Sainz says he wants to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans once his Formula 1 career is over, as he discussed his long-term plans on the Team Torque podcast with Williams team-mate Alex Albon. Sainz said: "I see myself competing in some other category. I really want to do Le Mans."
Fans who attended the opening day of track action at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix have been offered partial refunds as part of a proposed class-action settlement. The lawsuit followed the disruption in which FP1 was stopped after 10 minutes due to a loose drain cover, FP2 was delayed by two hours, and spectators were later cleared from the grandstands before the session began. Liberty Media has offered $3,047,986 to be shared between claimants, with the court noting the settlement is “not an admission of wrongdoing” and that the defendants deny liability.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says Kimi Antonelli is proof a driver does not need to be an "asshole" to be successful in Formula 1. Wolff said: "Everybody loves a fast driver, and when the fast driver is also a nice human being and a person who is supportive of the team that never has a bad thing to say, then obviously it's like a jackpot. In the past, there was the opinion in F1 that in order to be winning, you need to be an asshole, you need to be ruthless and opportunistic. I don't think that Kimi is that. It's just down to driving faster than the others, and being a nice person also."
Mattia Binotto says rival drivers being linked with Audi shows the “credibility” of the team’s Formula 1 project is improving, as he insisted he is happy with Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg. Binotto said: "The fact that other drivers are linked to our team, I can only be very happy with because it is showing the credibility of our project is improving. It is showing that the perception from the outside that one day we can become competitive is no longer a rumour, but it is a fact."
Alex Albon says Williams is battling “genetic DNA problems” with its car and doubts the team’s planned Azerbaijan Grand Prix upgrade will be enough to quickly turn things around. Albon said: "We know the weaknesses of the car. We know the direction. As a team this year, the work that's been done at the factory, it's the biggest effort I've seen at the team to really fight these genetic DNA problems that this team has. So, if it's cured by Baku, I doubt it. A lot of what we're really fortunately biting into is next year's car. It's making sure next year's car doesn't have these traits."
Sergio Perez says Cadillac need to improve reliability after his retirement from the Hungarian Grand Prix with a broken suspension, as the new team continues to suffer a spate of DNFs. Perez said: "Obviously being a new team, you kind of expect all these issues. It's a little frustrating that it has happened very often. I'm sure that we will use this break to make sure we are able to clean and to improve all areas in different departments. It's really important how we are able to progress the second half of the season."
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